Two local events, one a community tailgate party to benefit the city parks and the other in observance of Overdose Awareness Day, are coming to Hillsboro in less than a week.
The Hillsboro Parks Committee will hold a community tailgate party from 4-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29 at Liberty Park in Hillsboro. Food will be available for a freewill donation, and there will be live music, a cornhole tournament and a 50/50 raffle.
The local musicians will include the group Sick Serenity and soloists Zack Wyatt and John Reeves. They will perform at the park pavilion, near where the event will be based.
There will be both individual and team cornhole events. Committee member Patrick Shanahan said there will be a $10 entry fee for individuals and a $25 entry fee for teams. Seventy percent of the entry fees will be awarded to the winners. A warmup session will begin at 5 p.m. and the cornhole tournament will start at 6 p.m.
“I have just spent a lot of time at the parks in Hillsboro, especially Liberty Park, and I have some really great memories,” Shanahan said of his reason for getting involved with the committee. “I don’t think you can build a community without a community gathering place and I think the parks are key to building a community.”
The event is open to the public.
Then on Monday, Aug. 31, Hope for Highland will hold an Overdose Awareness Day event on Governor Trimble Place in Hillsboro. Kim Davis, an officer with Hope for Highland, said the road between the Highland County Courthouse and The Times-Gazette will be closed to traffic and there will be a couple vendors, representatives from treatment centers and a couple talks from individuals currently in recovery.
The vendors will set up around 5 p.m. and the public event starts at 6 p.m. Davis said there will be some type of commemoration for those who have lost the battle with addiction.
“It’s a night of coming together with those offering local resources for treatment that are available for folks,” Davis said.
She said the vendors will have information available for anyone looking to seek treatment.
The event will last about two hours.
The idea for the event developed out of meetings between Hope for Highland and REACH for Tomorrow.
“We just talked in passing about coming up with something for the community and this is what we decided to put on together,” Davis said. “We encourage people to come out, and if they have lost of a loved and would like for that loved one to be remembered that night, we will do that.”
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.
